REVIEWED: "Simply Christian"

By Jon Rising
Ministry Today magazine, July/August 2006

Your friend tells you he is going to write a book of apologetics and Christian theology that will — in 240 pages — answer satisfactorily how it is that the Christian faith is reasonable, then go on to explain the continuity of the Christian message across the two testaments, before winding up with explanations of the Trinity, baptism, the canon of Scripture and life in the Spirit.

You avert your eyes from making contact with his. You shift your weight uneasily. You know he is biting off more than he can chew. Unless, of course, your friend is the Bishop of Durham, England, N.T. Wright.

One is tempted to say that Wright's Simply Christian — sure to become a classic — is his magnum opus. Simply the ability to elucidate such critical philosophical and theological themes in short compass would earn that praise. However, Wright already has a magnum opus. The bishop, 57, is best known for his multi-volume work on the New Testament, Christian Origins and the Question of God. It is a work of first-rate scholarship that has earned much acclaim.

But, as he has shown in Simply Christian, Wright knows how to distill the fruits of scholarship for a popular audience. He has done the same in his commentary series, The New Testament for Everyone (written under the name Tom Wright).

There is not a lull in the book — no dissatisfying sections. There are very high moments, though. In the chapter on beauty, the Anglican Wright will have Pentecostal readers coming out of their seats shouting. A sense of worship will be stirred as he deftly explains the Incarnation. And all should marvel as he unpacks the genius of the biblical narrative.

The rich texture God's wisdom calls for the reading and writing of many books (Wright has penned more than 40 himself), but a person who might be exposed to just one Christian tome would be well served by this one.

Strang Communications 2006

A video of Wright lecturing about Simply Christian at the National Cathedral in Washington D. C.  can be seen here.